I switched to Azonic Fusion magnesium pedals in black, they are great and I love them, definitely better than the VP pos that came stock. The grips will stay until they rip apart, no point in swapping them out.
Yeah Siu now that you mention it, thats it lol.
The derailleur is so so, but its probably because it came out of tune straight from day one, it is very resistant though and shifting is ok even when tuned right, I expected more, I'm definitely getting SRAM X9 eventually (or maybe the new 2007 X.7 when it comes out which is actually 2006 X.9 lol) but I'm not going to upgrade to a higher end Shimano part.